LANDFILL SUPPORTERS, OPPONENTS TRADE JABS

People have their say, but no timetable set for permit decision

As has been true for nearly 20 years for just about everything concerning the issue, it could be a long time before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers makes a final decision whether to issue a permit to build the long-planned and long-disputed Gregory Canyon Landfill.

Thursday night in a conference room in Escondido, about 300 people attended a one-time-only public hearing to take comments from people who either favor building the landfill near Pala or oppose it.

As is usual for all Gregory Canyon meetings — and there have been many over the past two decades — passions were high. And also as usual, opponents outnumbered those in favor of the project by a wide margin.

The Army Corps of Engineers refused to set a date for a final decision, saying it has to wait to analyze all the comments made Thursday night, as well as all the written comments, which don’t even have to be submitted until April 15.

The Corps of Engineers project manager, William Miller, said he wouldn’t speculate about how long that might be.

The landfill still needs a number of permits before construction can begin. Each permit is vital. The Corps of Engineers is involved because a small part of the project could directly affect the San Luis Rey River, considered a national waterway that the agency is charged with overseeing.

But Thursday night’s hearing at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, was far more wide- ranging.

The developers, Gregory Canyon Ltd., said they have designed a state-of-the-art landfill that is environmentally safe and needed for the disposal of North County trash.

“After nearly two decades there has been no legitimate argument that the landfill will not protect water quality,” said Jim Simmons, project manager for Gregory Canyon Ltd.

Added Gregory Canyon Managing Partner Richard Felago: “There is no need for any more delay. … The landfill is the most technologically advanced landfill that’s ever been proposed for municipal solid waste.”

Opponents, who include the Pala Band of Mission Indians and a coalition of environmental groups, said there is no such thing as a safe dump. Common sense dictates, they said, that one day, no matter how advanced the technology and how good the liner system is, pollutants and toxins would leak into the ground.

Why risk polluting the San Luis Rey River? they asked repeatedly.

Many opponents also emphasized the cultural and historical importance of Gregory Mountain. It is a spiritual place for all Native Americans in the area, they said.

The Pala tribe has spent at least $6 million over the years fighting the landfill plans. Its reservation abuts the property where the dump would be built, roughly three miles east of Interstate 15 and just south of state Route 76.

“This unnecessary project is a perfect illustration of how Native Americans have been the victims of cultural and environmental injustice at the hands of both government and private interests,” said Anthony Pico, chairman of the Viejas tribe in Alpine. He said the landfill site was chosen because the developers thought the Pala tribe would put up little resistance.

But gaming revenue changed that, and the tribe has funded the opposition and has sworn to keep fighting the plans forever.

Simmons and others representing the developers said all the studies indicate that measures can be taken to protect any cultural sites near the landfill.

“We will protect the sacred sites,” Simmons said. “We will be good neighbors.”

The developers have also pointed out that the cultural significance of the mountain was not a strong talking point by opponents until after the courts made numerous rulings that suggested the environmental arguments will not prevent the landfill’s construction.

Shasta Gaughen, the Pala tribe’s environmental director, scoffed at the notion that cultural sites would be preserved. “There are no exclusion zones that can protect the mountain from desecration,” she said. “It is sacred from the bottom to the top.”

The crowd was loud at times, wildly cheering some speakers and booing when others talked.

Numerous local politicians weighed in on various sides. County Supervisor Bill Horn encouraged the Army Corps of Engineers to approve the permit, while Supervisor Dave Roberts strongly opposed it.